Highlights, lowlights from the week’s news
HIT » There was a time many of us probably would have expressed great displeasure at having to stand in line for three or four hours to get a tasty meal at Hula’s Chinese Bar-B-Q in Chico.
This week, though, nobody was complaining.
Huge lines and higher prices were awaiting diners at the long-anticipated re-opening of one of Chico’s most popular restaurants early this week, and the verdict from customers was pretty much unanimous: It was worth the wait and, if paying more for labor and food means getting the doors open again, everyone seems happy to do their share.
The reopening of Hula’s was just one bright spot in a good week for local business news. Up on the ridge, we hear that the new Grocery Outlet, located in the old CVS building at 6800 Skyway, is on track for opening this fall and has actually begun the hiring process.
It’s fantastic to hear a steady stream of good business news again, and the news about Hula’s and Grocery Outlet are just two of the latest examples.
MISS » While the mega-fires started by PG&E (or, in 2020, a great number of lightning strikes) have dominated most of the firerelated headlines in recent years, it’s important to remember that a sinister human element is continuing to play a big role, too.
Every year, thousands of arson fires are reported all over the state of California. They’re a monumental waste of time and resources for our already thinly stretched firefighters and all too often, these blazes also grow big. And deadly.
Remember, the Humboldt Fire in 2008 — the biggest to hit the Paradise area before the Camp Fire — is believed to have been started by an arsonist. To date, no one has been charged with that crime.
Arsonists run the gamut from unemployed loners to college professors with master’s degrees. Just this year, Gary Maynard, who has taught at colleges in New York and California and has a doctorate in sociology and three master’s degrees, was arrested on suspicion of setting a string of fires throughout northern California. He was working at Sonoma State just a year ago.
One can only guess at the mental health and other issues that come into play in arson fires, but in this day and age, if you’re setting fires, the penalty needs to be a stiff one. Some crimes are so heinous a “second chance” should be out of the question, especially when it’s putting people’s lives at risk.
We have been critical of the governor and the legislature in the past, but when they do something right we’re going to recognize it.
Gov. Newsom signed a bill authored by Woodland Hills Democrat Jesse Gabriel earlier this week. The bill mandates strict accountability for the state’s homeless funding, something that has been sorely needed for a long time.
The bill passed 79-0 in the assembly and 38-0 in the Senate.
In his press release announcing the signing of the bill, Gabriel pointed out that the state can no longer write blank checks and hope for the best. He noted the problem has not gotten better, even while various levels of government have thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at it for many years.
Hopefully this new law will weed out the actors who are simply collecting cash from the ones that actually have a record of helping the homeless move on to an independent living situation — and, make no mistake, there are a great number of truly dedicated people in this profession. We like the carrotand-stick (and, verify) approach being put into play here.
Amazing what can happen when “both sides” work together, isn’t it?
MISS » The most recent vaccination numbers for California show most of our local counties lagging far behind the state average — while also running ahead of other areas of the state in terms of hospitalizations.
Funny how those two things go hand-in-hand, isn’t it?
Two-thirds of Californians have now received one dose and 60 percent are fully vaccinated. But Butte and Glenn counties are both under 50 percent in terms of full vaccinations, and Tehama has barely topped a third. And the hospitalization numbers for all three are at or above the peak numbers hit earlier this year.
And guess what — almost every person hospitalized with COVID in our area is unvaccinated.
We emphasize “almost.” Everybody, it seems, can produce an anecdotal tale along the lines of “I heard someone who got the shot died but my neighbors up the road have been taking horse dewormer for a year and none of them are sick so, I’m not going to get the shot.”
But the overall numbers do not lie. Those who are remaining unvaccinated have fueled this surge, filled our hospitals and put many much-needed surgeries on hold. No amount of homespun, second-hand anecdotal tales will change that.